


Poor Unfortunate Souls

by criim (yuriu)



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Canonical Character Death, M/M, Originally Posted on Tumblr, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Tragedy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-06
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2020-02-27 09:37:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18736435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuriu/pseuds/criim
Summary: Truly, those with the marks upon their skin... were the less fortunate ones.





	Poor Unfortunate Souls

**Author's Note:**

> ANONYMOUS ASKED -  
> Do you know those silly soulmate mark tropes in fanfiction? What if V and Nero realized they had each others marks?
> 
>  
> 
> I’ve taken some creative liberties and rearranged the script of DMC5 to fit this :>>>
> 
> … I don’t think this is what the anon had in mind when they sent this request… LOOOOL ;; w ;;
> 
> ( Originally posted on [criimsoncloud](https://criimsoncloud.tumblr.com/post/184697364451/do-you-know-those-silly-soulmate-mark-tropes-in) )

Soulmates.

 

it was something his parents had talked about, many years ago, back when he and his other self were _one._

 

Soulmates were rare, and not everyone was fortunate enough to have a mark, written somewhere on their body. But those who did…

 

Well, those who did were perhaps _less_ fortunate than those without.

 

He didn't take too much stock in them back then, and V certainly did not take stock of them now; not when more important marks decorated his body. He didn't have one before, so why would he have one now?

 

It was Griffon who spotted the unusual ink upon his wrist. "Hey- looks like you got a little something _extra_ on there!" He took a closer look - scrawled in messy writing, he could discern " _V, you gotta rest."_

 

A lump formed in his throat, and V quickly covered the marks with the leather bands he had found.

 

How cruel must destiny be to him? Now, taunting him with a guarantee that someone was waiting for him out there?

 

V fastened a second band upon his wrist. No, this was too cruel, and he didn't want to look at it any longer.

 

\---

 

Nero never believed in the bullshit that was 'soulmates' - no, he firmly believed that being with a person; loving a person was a choice. There were _so_ many people upon this earth, that it was quite unlikely that there was only _one_ person out there _just for him_.

 

(And anyways, he never _had_ a mark on him to begin with. Once he reached his teens, he tossed that little _fantasy_ down the drain.)

 

So it had came to a surprise that day that he awakened from his coma, to see elegantly written words scrawled upon his wrist. " _I wanted to be protected… and loved._ "

 

_Shit._

 

_What the hell._

 

Kyrie had been the first to see it… and she had looked upon her own wrist. Hers was blank.

 

They weren't soulmates.

 

Nero quickly reassured her that he didn't believe in this thing, even if the proof was written on his skin.

 

…But in the end, they parted. It was a mutual parting, none with hard feelings. They were brother and sister; though not of blood, but of their shared childhood.

 

(Kyrie, the ever romantic that she was, told him not to worry; Nero will _definitely_ find someone to love. It was written on his very skin!

 

Nero… just smiled in amusement. Let her have her fun.)

 

The concept of soulmates fell from his mind, though, when the terror at Red Grave City happened. There was no time to think about it- not when his demonic arm had been ripped away, Dante _losing_ to that abomination called Urizen, and V…

 

For some strange reason… there was something about that man that Nero was intrigued by. Mysterious, aloof yet good humoured, open, yet constantly veiling himself in the darkness…

 

And Nero couldn't help but _trust_ the man. He wanted to _trust_ him, to protect the frail looking frame, though he knew V could fend for himself with those protective familiars of his. Still, he wanted to squirrel the man away, wrap him up in a blanket ( _because what the hell who goes around fighting demons in a_ **_corset_ ** ?), feed him some home cooked food ( _because goddamn this dude needed to eat- Nero swore he could count his ribs_ ), and just _protect_ him because _V was pushing himself so hard, he was careless of his own health_!

 

He didn't know why this man stirred up such feelings within him.

 

But - damnit!

 

_Nero fucking cared about him already._

 

_And he couldn't stop his heart from clenching, watching V struggle to stand upon the rough ground of the qliphoth. He couldn't stand there and watch this stubborn, determined, single-minded man sweat and crumble under his own weight_.

 

Nero leapt in, and swung his arm around V, cradling him as they walked forward.

 

V was crumbling, both figuratively and literally.

 

"Nero…" V began, voice weak, and Nero could see him struggling to breath. "I will tell you everything. There… is no demon named Urizen… only a man who threw away his humanity, in an endless pursuit of _power_."

 

And Nero could only listen to him, saddened and horrified, brain working to connect the dots of this twisted family drama.

 

He shook his head, gently lifting V higher upon his shoulders so he may stand strong - Nero desperately wanted to force V to stop, to rest, _to sit back and relax, because damnit if he keeps pushing on, V's gonna die--!_

 

The light of an illusionary plane began to reach both their eyes. Nero could feel the shuddering of V's lungs.

 

V began to speak one more time…

 

**_and Nero could feel his heart shatter, a morbid realization coming to his mind._ **

 

_"Nero… I wanted to be protected… and loved…"_

 

_"V,"_ he could _hear_ his own voice crack. " _You gotta rest._ "

 

V had frozen, and he could feel him squeeze a little tighter on his shoulders, before letting go and slowly, _slowly_ removing those leather bands upon his wrist. V's spidery fingers dipped down, carefully twisting Nero's own wrist.

 

Two sentences upon both their skin, a deep black, taunting them both.

 

The same two sentences they had both uttered.

 

Nero could feel himself weep, and V's own body began to shudder not from a loss of breath… but a deluge of melancholy.

 

A silence fell between them, unable to say a word as they continued forward, hearts heavy.

 

_How cruel destiny was…_

 

_Telling them both… that there was someone out there, just for them…_

 

_Someone was there, who would love them unconditionally…_

 

**_…and engraving their soulmate's final words onto their skin._ **

 

**_Truly, those with the marks upon their skin… were the less fortunate ones._ **

  
  
  


Nero spends his days running a thumb over the faded words upon his wrist, or running fingers over the book Vergil … _V_ … left behind.

 

V… was gone.

 

V was Vergil's humanity… but _not only that_.

 

V was his own person… his own soul.

 

The proof was on his wrist. Vergil had returned… but the moment he did, Nero's soulmark began to **_gray and fade_ **.

 

Dante may have gotten his brother back… Nero may have gotten a father…

 

_But why--_

 

_Why couldn't he have V back, too?_


End file.
